I write to honor the service of those humans lost to war.

JJ,

I am so glad you brought up my ongoing attention to the human toll we pay for this unjust war.I thank you for your service and respectfully ask that you not assume you know my feelings.I am appalled that these women and men have died and no one is giving them proper dedication for their service.In Viet Nam the remains of soldiers were brought back with the respect and mourning.Their flag draped coffins reminded us daily of how much we lose to war.Bush, in a disrespectful shun of their service, chooses to hide their remains from our eyes so we do not know how many people have been lost.This was a decision he and Cheney made long before the war even began.

If you asked me, each soldier who dies on foreign soil should have a quarter page memorial dedicated to them in the Washington Post, New York Times, and USA Today.I don’t understand how the lives of the 30 people killed at Virginia Tech, who did receive such dedications, are more important that of our soldiers. So, if you see naming the dead as disrespectful because of our political affiliation, I am sorry but I will not stop.I have too much respect for their sacrifice not to name them.I am almost brought to tears when I think of the families of these people; of the thoughts and feelings that went through their heads before they left this earth; of the futures they will never have because they made the ultimate sacrifice for my future under false pretenses.

I talk to Vets who share my feelings about the war on a daily basis.Some are upset about the Stop-loss program that forces enlisted people to re-enlist for cash, be sent back to war under duress, or go to the brig.They describe it as a backdoor draft.One solider whom I am very close to broke into tears when he told me how sad he has been since returning.He said he went to war and lost friends because he was told it was necessary.He trusted in the system of the military and in the wisdom of his commander and chief.Having returned and heard that commander and chief manipulating the truth and abandoning the original mission of the war (this soldier believed he was going to stop the spread of WMD’s) – he became much disenfranchised.He is still a successful officer but suffers greatly with emotional issues and alcoholism.I only wish I could list the number of our soldiers who return from war and we leave alone to self destruct.They will be the true test of our VA system.

I know I cannot convince many of you the total and raw pain I feel writing about this war.Not just the loss of soldiers but the loss of Iraqi’s, the loss of a peaceful future for the next generation, the loss of our international reputation that will, for generations, have a negative affect on our stability and prosperity.But JJ, I feel it.I feel raw pain because I know there are millions upon millions of people in so much more pain than me resultant of this war.I cannot have this venue and not use it to expose that pain in its most raw form:names.

I am sorry I have not abbreviated the ranks correctly — please be kind enough to correct my mistake.Below is the latest Iraq toll: